Dame Esther reminded the Prime Minister of his pre-election promise to her (Image: Steve Reigate)
Dame Esther Rantzen has issued a personal plea for the Prime Minister to make his promise “come true” and hold a vote on assisted dying.
The terminally ill campaigner, 84, said: “For me, and others like me, it has to happen soon…It really is a matter of life and death.”
Sir Keir Starmer told cancer-stricken Dame Esther earlier this year that he was personally in favour of changing the law and would guarantee Parliamentary time for the issue. But he has so far failed to honour that vow – and time is running out.
The Childline founder added: “He did say to me rather sweetly – I had a phone call conversation with him – that he hoped I would be alive to see the debate.
“I just want to remind him gently, nothing bossy, just quietly: ‘Dear Sir Keir, whom I have met and worked with, could you possibly recall your kind words to me and make it come true?'”
READ MORE: Dame Esther handed hope as Citizens’ Jury backs law change on assisted dying
Esther’s daughter Rebecca and campaigners delivered an Express petition to Downing Street (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
Dame Esther last December joined a growing chorus demanding new legislation on assisted dying, after revealing she had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
The former That’s Life! presenter says “miracle drugs” have extended her life, but she fears her family will be forced to watch her suffer or stay behind while she travels to Dignitas when the disease eventually takes its course.
The Daily Express Give Us Our Last Rights crusade campaigns for terminally ill people in the last six months of life to be allowed to request medical help to die with dignity.
A Private Members’ Bill on assisted dying is set to be introduced in the Commons after supporter Jake Richards won a place last week in the MPs’ lottery to propose new laws.
The Labour representative for Rother Valley vowed to tackle the issue if no other MP selected ahead of him does so. Writing in the Express, Mr Richards says changing the law “would be momentous but the status quo is no longer tenable”.
He adds: “I have spoken with too many who have seen their parents, siblings, or friends die in agonising circumstances – without autonomy or dignity.
“Whether it is my bill, or somebody else’s, we must grasp the nettle, and bring about change the public want.”
Labour MP Jake Richards hopes to introduce an assisted dying Bill in the Commons (Image: Jake Richards)
Dame Esther expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Mr Richards. But she warned that his position as 11th out of 20 in the ballot means his potential Bill may not get enough time for debate.
She said: “He could just get half an hour on a Friday evening which wouldn’t help anyone. So what we’re hoping for is proper time to discuss the issue, have the free vote, and change this cruel law.
“I call it cruel because not only does it mean that I’ve got to have a bad death, if that’s what the cancer creates for me, but my family can’t be with me if I decide to go to Dignitas.
“Otherwise they are liable to being accused of killing me and getting investigated by the police. That is just messy and wrong and not what we want.
“So please, Sir Keir, remember our conversation and let’s make time for this. It really is a matter of life and death.”
The lifelong campaigner’s urgent plea comes after England’s first Citizens’ Jury on assisted dying ruled 71 percent in favour of changing the law.
Thirty members of the public were assembled by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics to hear evidence over eight weeks.
Of the 28 who participated in a final vote, 20 agreed that assisted dying should be legalised – including 16 who “strongly” agreed.
Dame Esther said of the result: “It didn’t surprise me of course, because every public survey has come out showing a vast majority in favour of change because the law at the moment is a cruel mess.
“But I was grateful for this because we have to keep it at the top of the agenda. Events happen, politicians forget, they take other things as their priority. We who really care about this need it…time is running out.
“Particularly people like me with a terminal diagnosis really want the law to permit us to have the choice over our own lives “And indeed, this is not to shorten life, it is to shorten death.”
Dame Esther told Sky News the jury was right to consider evidence from other countries, which shows many common fears around assisted dying are “not justified”.
Addressing the example of palliative care, she said: “In some countries actually palliative care was more funded, more resourced, more effective when the laws were changed.
“If you know that when things get too tough, you can ask for help to die, then you have more confidence in palliative care don’t you?
“I absolutely understand there are strong feelings both ways…but as long as people are straightforward about explaining why they feel what they feel, I think we should all have a choice.
“What we want is a proper parliamentary debate in this country and a free vote, and that way everybody can make their views known and then there can be a majority.
“I only hope that MPs recognise that it’s time to do what the public are asking: change the law, make it our choice over our life and our death.”
Asked how she was doing, Dame Esther said her life was “full of interest and adventure”. She added: “My daughter Rebecca is with me, she comes to see me from time to time. She has a busy life as a mother of three.
“I’m hoping to see my son and I see my other daughter quite regularly. But that’s what my life is at the moment. I just spent time with those closest to me.”
We must grasp the nettle and give people choice, says JAKE RICHARDS
The time has come to change our laws on assisted dying – and the government must give the necessary time in Parliament for debate and a free vote to MPs.
My Private Members’ Bill will offer modest and careful reforms in this important area.
Those with only six months to live, with full capacity, will have the choice to die without pain and in dignity.
The decision would be momentous but the status quo is no longer tenable.
The existing law is a mess. The Suicide Act 1961 provides for lengthy prison sentences for those found guilty of assisting a loved one in their death.
Yet, guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service urges the authorities to show leniency and restraint.
This can lead to lengthy and distressing investigations, in a period of mourning for the family with no public policy imperative.
The current situation also allows for options for the very wealthy but not all. A final trip to Switzerland, or another jurisdiction, whilst more distressing than being at home with family is available to the wealthy.
Other families do not have this option and people are therefore forced to die in pain.
I understand, and respect, those who disagree with me on this. But I have spoken with too many who have seen their parents, siblings or friends, die in agonising circumstances – without autonomy or dignity.
We cannot turn away this time. Whether it is my bill, or somebody else’s, we must grasp the nettle, and bring about change the public want.
– Jake Richards is Labour MP for Rother Valley
